32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Perfect Storm Hit Montreal

Episode Date: May 29, 2026

On this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman pay tribute to Claude Lemieux following his sudden passing.  The guys unpack the surgical play of the Carolina Hurricanes as they push the Montreal Canadiens to the brink of elimination (5:00). They talk about a league memo regarding trades between now and the lead up to free agency (25:00). Kyle and Elliotte look ahead to the NHL Draft Combine in Buffalo (32:16). They also talk about where things stand between the Vancouver Canucks and Manny Malhotra (34:16) plus Jay Woodcroft and the Toronto Maple Leafs (35:52). The Final Thought focuses on the Bruce Cassidy saga in Vegas as things start to play out publicly (39:44 ).  Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and comments in the Thought Line (45:32). Today we highlight MIINA and her track Archetypal Life. Check out her music here. Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here. Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail. This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

Okay, before we get to this edition of the podcast in earnest, Elliot, I think we're all still just in complete shock here on Thursday. We learned that Claude Lemieux has passed away at the age of 60, a man that won four Stanley Cups, fifth all-time and playoff games played. For those that would have grown up watching in that era, you saw how ferocious of a competitor he was. Also a very smart man got into the agency business after his playing days were done. This is someone who just a few days ago, Elliot, was carrying the torch inside the arena in Montreal before game three between the Canadians and the hurricanes.

We're all just completely utterly shocked with the news here on Thursday. That was the most shocking thing about it, Kyle, was the fact that it came just a few days after he carried in the torch. And when he walked in, I actually took a picture. I'm looking at it right now of him holding the torch in one of the sections. And I sent it to him and I said, looking great, Claude. And he wrote back, thanks, Elliot, with a thumbs up. And to hear the news just a few days later, it's terrible. And there are some things that are important to say,

such as the best to his entire family, everybody who is suffering, his friends. There were a lot of people in hockey who he was very close to, and you wish them all the best and hope that they get the support they need. But as always, just if you need, there's no shame in ever asking for help. Nobody looks at you any differently. Nobody feels any less about you.

Nobody will ever look at you and say, that person is weak for asking for help. And I know that Glenn Healy and the NHL alumni, they're launching some new stuff for the group over the next few days and few weeks. I think it's going to be announced pretty soon. But Glenn's another person I thought of on Thursday because he has worked so hard to help as many players as he possibly can who have retired and just try to get them.

into a better place. So whether it's someone you trust or someone who has professional ability to help support you or even someone like Glenn who will always take your call, please reach out and get the help you need. You know, one other story about Claude Lemieux I wanted to share, Kyle, was a few years ago his old agent Pierre Laquois passed away in June. of 2021. And he had,

Claude was asked to give one of the testimonials, one of the eulogies at the funeral. And he called me and he said, look, I'm, I'm really not much of a public speaker. Can you help me with this?

And I just said, absolutely. Just tell me what you want to say. And we spent about an hour on the phone and he kind of walked through what he wanted to say. And he, I said, give me a couple stories. And he gave me a few stories. And I helped him write the speech. I don't know, I didn't go to the funeral, so I don't know how much he read, but I wrote something for him. And he really appreciated it. And I always considered

that, that are a real honor in the sense that those are important things to write. People want to make sure they say the right things and hit all the right notes. And I always appreciated that he asked me for help with that because I thought it was really meaningful. You know, I just like everybody else, I'm in absolute shock. And Kyle, as you said, the fact that we saw him carrying the torch into Montreal for game number three, it makes it even that much harder to believe. Well said, Elliot.

Claude Lemieux gone far too soon. at the age of 60. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers and the 2026 Tacoma. Get yours before red tag days are over. Dom, Elliot, and Kyle back with you. Fridge, we are back in Raleigh for Game 5 tonight of the Eastern Conference Final between Carolina and Montreal.

The two games back in La Belle Provance were some of the more thorough. And as Shane Gospair put it, who's become. quite a wordsmith, by the way, as we are learning quickly. Yes. Surgical type games from the Hurricanes. Overtime was not required in game number four, jumping out to an early lead. And now they have pushed the Canadians to the brink. The Canes one win away from their first trip to the Stanley Cup final since winning it all 20 years ago.

And Montreal is up against the ropes in a big way. Not only are they getting outshot heavily in this series, Not only are they struggling to come up with shots in this series, it's become a historical level of low shots through the Canadians and three straight losses in this conference final. It's been incredible to watch, really, the absolute smothering of the hurricanes. I was talking to some Montreal players after game number four,

and one of the things that we were discussing was they beat two really good teams to get here, two 100-point teams to get here, Tampa Bay and Buffalo. And I said to the couple of these guys, you always, there were always moments of trouble, but generally they seem to be able to get the puck out of their zone. They could be patient, they could wait, they could delay, and eventually they would get the puck out of their zone. It's not happening here. And basically what these Montreal players said was, you cannot compare the way the hurricanes pressure you

to the way Tampa did or Buffalo did. It is on another level. It is light years ahead. They are constantly in your face and they are constantly on top of them. And that's why I remember at the beginning of the series when I said beating Carolina would be like, Everest, every mountain is bigger and this is the biggest one. I had some Canadians fans,

including some people in Montreal who I saw, Kyle, and they were like, we swept them in the regular season. We're nowhere near as far away as you're making it seem like it is. And I remind everybody that when you have a situation like this, in the regular season, you're not always on your game. It's not to take away the fact that Montreal did so well against them. It's just that you're not paying as much attention. You're not dialed in. You're not focused, laser focused on one team like you are in the regular season. Maybe it's three out of four. Maybe there's something going on with your lineup. Whatever the case is, playing a team, four times spread out in the regular season is not in the least bit comparable to four out of seven

in the playoffs. Now it's just one opponent. You're traveling back and forth. There's not back to backs. You don't have to worry about someone else. You're dialed in on one team. And that's when you can really sit there and say, this is what we're going to stop and this is how we're going to beat them. In game one, Montreal took advantage of Carolina. They weren't very good. The hurricanes promised they were going to be better, and they have. And I think the Canadians, I don't know if I'd say that they've been shocked by how relentless the hurricanes are. But I just think that Carolina went to another level that at this point, the Canadians can't get to or are just unable to get to.

And Kyle, one thing, I never like to say it's over. I never sit here and say they're down three to one. They have no chance of winning. So I won't. But it seems incredibly lopsided. Martin San Luis pointed out he's done it before. He's come back from three games to one. I don't remember any of those series looking as lopsided as this one is.

So I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm saying it is an enormous task, enormous. Yes, especially because, I mean, just watching the games. And I think when you consider how much Carolina controlled, even those two games that went to overtime, I mean, if Montreal wins one of those, like there's a bit of a get out of jail free card. Like, oh my gosh, we spend so much time defending, we barely had any shots. and we won. Thank goodness. All right,

now we only have to win two more times. That both of those ended up going Carolina's way. That's only a deeper cut of heartbreak, I think, for the Canadians. And I mean,

I think there's, for a lot of right reasons, there's been comparisons to 2010 through this run for Montreal, right? Like the way Dobish has kind of come onto the scene in here,

very similar to Yarohalak. It was great to see him, bring the torch in for game four and the way the crowd embraced him. But as we remember, what happened to Montreal 15 years ago, two game seven wins on the road, very emotional first two rounds for them.

And they just looked out of gas by the time they got to the Flyers in the conference final. I'm with you. I don't like saying a series is over until it is over. But you can't look at this and suggest the fact that how little games Carolina's played in the playoffs compared to how much Montreal's had to play. play is not playing some kind of factor here. It was the rest of the first period in game one, and now I think the rest of Carolina has benefited themselves for with the two

sweeps early on. It's been, it's been a factor when they've been able to just completely, how many battles below the goal lines did Carolina win in game four? It felt like 95%. It looks, they have eight guys on the ice. And I don't, yeah. It looks, they look,

they look. completely overwhelmed, completely overwhelmed. And that's as disappointing. If you're a Montreal fan, you know, you watch them through the first two rounds, you think, man, they can keep this going. And now suddenly it's really hanging in the balance. It can be disappointing, I understand.

But, you know, as we mentioned last pod, how quickly we forget this is the youngest team in the playoffs. That's still, you know, Carolina's been in this spot. too where they've gone through two emotional rounds of winning and they get to the conference final and they run into a team that maybe it's just their time. Maybe this is Carolina's time. They certainly look like a team that is capable of pushing this even further, Elliot. They've got a lot to like. They sure do. I felt a little bad for the Montreal players when they were getting the Bronx

cheer from the crowd. They had no shots in the first 17 minutes of the third period. That's another thing that stood out here. Third period of game three, no shots for 10 minutes. Overtime of game three, no shots for seven and a half minutes. The start of game four, again, a long drought without a shot, and then in the third period, no shots for 17 minutes. And Dolbidge took a shot, and he kind of got a cheer, and then they finally put one on goal, and they got the Bronx cheer. I felt a little badly for them because it's not like they're, because they've given the city two rounds of great hockey and it's not like they're not trying. They're just getting, as we've said, overwhelmed. I'm curious to see Caroline on Friday night because they were off

on game one, as you mentioned. They were the worst game of their series and unquestioned with the worst game of the playoffs. For a lot of guys here, this is going to be their first. shot to make the final. And they're going to play it at home. A loud building, a really excited building, those fans will be wired for that game. So they brought to the podium after game

four, Aho and Gostis Bear. And they've both played almost the exact same number of NHL games. They're both at 7.50. And I asked them if they thought about the possibility of clinching that at home. And they both gave good answers. They said no. And Ajo said,

all I'm thinking about is the next shift, which is the right answer. But I do wonder, Kyle, you know, Jordan Stahl's been there before. We've talked about it. But they're going to have a lot of guys on that team who've never been there before. And not only have they not been there before, but they've been wiped out at this stage for pretty much the last two or three years. So how are they going to be? Are they going to be nervous?

Are they going to be like, holy cow, we can actually do this, and their eyes be wide as saucers? To me, that's going to be Brindamore's biggest challenge for game five. They'll be ready to play, but will they be sometimes, I remember Larry Brown, I've talked about this before, the famous basketball coach, one speech he gave Kansas in 1988, the men's basketball championship, they were underdogs to Oklahoma

who'd beaten them, I think, three times during the year. And he told them, don't be afraid to win. He thinks that that happens. You're like, oh, my God, I can actually do this and you crumble. I'm curious to see if Brindamor feels that with his team going into game five. You finally have your chance. Your first one, don't be afraid to win. Craig Simpson talks about that.

Like it's one thing to win a game in the playoffs. And then it's another one where you go, oh, if we win tonight, like now we're going to stand like a final. Yeah. It's a different feeling. I mean, the only one that would usurp it is, oh, if we win tonight, we win the actual cup. Yep. But it's a different set of circumstances. So that's a fun wrinkle too, because that's the only thing when we were talking a little bit, you know,

you and me and Dave Amber had dinner together here on Thursday night. And we were talking about that a little bit as well of, Do we see any shades of game one from Carolina where it's not for a lack of energy? It's not for a lack of effort, but is the energy just spent in the wrong places because you're so excited and you're so wired to, I want to do everything I can to win this game. But again, outside of those 20 minutes, all playoffs for Carolina, this has been a very methodical, structured, mature hurricanes team that we've seen. So all of that would suggest they'll be able to handle things tomorrow. but for a lot of those guys, until you go through it,

you're just not totally sure. Those are all the things I hate about people, methodical, structured. Everything you are not. Mature. That's definitely not me. So by the way, Calli, it's someone who tweeted at me and says, the amount of fun you guys make it Dave Amber on the pod, you have to have them on before the end of the playoffs.

And I thought, we will. but when we go out for dinner, the three of us, I'd just say I'm happy the microphones aren't on that. There's always a standing invitation for him. He just usually has better things to do. He says, I don't listen because I hear you enough. That's what he says to me. Now, tactically, a couple people said to me,

there's one thing that they would do if they're Montreal. And they said, it's risky. It's very risky, but you're down 3.1, and you need to do something. And they said they would cheat. They would send guys flying out of the zone. And the reason they would do it is you have to find a way to break the pressure and maybe Carolina eases up because you're sending people long.

The risk is, of course, if you don't win the puck battle or you don't get it out, it's five on four or worse. But the other thing, too, is they pointed out in game one when Montreal won, they got their guys behind the hurricanes and they got their chances. That's something that a couple of. couple people said to me that they're not sure how San Luis would feel about that, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And that's what they would do. They would cheat their guys. They would send guys out of the zone and hope that you can create some breakaways.

It's, I, I'm with you because that's the one way to break pressure, right? If they're going to bring that, then there's other areas of the ice that are going to open up because of it. And how do you get bodies in the puck there? It's just easier said than done. Like St. Louis talked about it, you kind of have to almost think in the future a little bit with how quick Carolina plays and they just, they haven't gotten there yet.

They haven't been able to anticipate enough to counter what Carolina's doing. It's been a master class from the hurricanes, the last three games and putting them in the spot that they are. Any other thoughts on this one before tonight? So you mentioned at the beginning, about Gostas Bear and what the master

wordsmith he is. My new nickname for Gostisbear is James Joyce. So he had the line about Svetnikov, which is play like an animal smartly. What were the two he gave you

the other day? He was talking about after the game, about the way the fourth line plays. He goes, we call that the dirty game. And then I asked about the shot block that eventually counted as an assist when Blake and Stankhoven went down the other way and scored. He said, that's the good hurt.

We call that the good hurt. Lindy Ruff was Don Draper the last round? Shane Gostis Bear is the new Don Draper. He's got all the slogans. And it all just comes out of him so naturally. I'm very impressed. It does. It doesn't even look like he's thinking of them.

So I wanted to thank some people who wrote in about, because the other one that he did that I really liked was dragged them into the deep water. And he said, and he says, it's hard to tread for so long. And, you know,

there were a couple people who wrote in or tweeted in and said that a lot of UFC fighters used that phrase. But there was another listener. And his name was Clarkie. Clarkie. And he sent me a video of Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell talking about dragging teams into the deep water. And if you want a bit more context, here it is. All right.

Now, there's a number of teams as it equates to just bear with me the ocean, right? There's a number of teams, they just barely get to the water. You got to get in the water to compete. A number of teams, that's all they get to. Then there's a number of teams. They are in the shallows. And they come in a hurry, man, and they are all over your ass. They are all over your ass.

And they strike and move. They strike and move. And they're dangerous, man. You just got to get a hold of them, though. If you can just get a hold of them and you start dragging their ass out to the deep, dark abyss, you can drown them. And that's what we got to be. that's who we have to be because that's our domain that is our domain thank you clarkie for sending that to me i hadn't seen it before i really liked it and i love the saying drag him into the deep

water yes before we move on i have to shout out jordan martenuk for something here okay yep so as you know the two buildings here in the series are unique in that the visitors dressing room is on the opposite side of the ice from the benches. Which is changing, I heard. Yes. I think in all the buildings that have that set up. Yes. So somebody mentioned to me that there's four buildings left that have that. Carolina and Montreal, San Jose, and I think Winnipeg.

And apparently the NHL has mandated that that has to change. I don't know what the timeline is, but it has. to change so that there is access to the dressing room from the bench. Okay. I know that Montreal has kind of been on their, been part of their plans for a couple of years. Like they revamped kind of ice level. If you got that new club lounge area for fans.

And I think now the next stage is to move that dressing room over the other side. So anyway, because of that, if I or whoever that's working Rinkside is doing a interview during one, warmups from the visitor bench, I obviously make my way there well before warmups start. And because there isn't a tunnel right from the bench, I've got to just hang out there for all of warmups because the league's not going to let me understandably walk on the ice

during warmups to get to my next position. I've just going to hang out. I think that's lame. I think you should be able to go wherever you want. You're a fully, The only independent adult male. You can go wherever you want. Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. Try to stop me. So, but I'm okay with it, Ellie, because you, like, sitting on that bench watching warm up, that's, that's a pretty damn cool thing. Let me just say. I was in no, like, as much as I'm going, I don't want to be in the way of anything here. It's, it's neat, just take a note of it.

So anyway, so last game four, we're on the visitor's bench. We're doing interview with Taylor Hall at the start of warmups. So players come out, and he's, He was pretty quick. Did a couple laps, came right over to us. We got the interview done. And now I'm just sitting there on the bench because I've got no choice to until the clock hit zero. A couple minutes go by and Jordan Martinuk comes skating by and he goes, do you need me to grab Halsey for you or are you doing it later?

Like this guy knew that he was to do an interview with Sportsnet. And obviously he just didn't, because we had done it pretty quick early on in warm up, he didn't see it. So he came over to say like, hey, did he forget? Like, do you need me to go grab them for you or is it happening later? So I had to say, I was like, no, no, no, we got it already. Like, don't bother anything. Like, we're good here. But I just thought, wow, I'd never had a player do that before.

Talk about a guy who's aware of his surroundings at all times. I wish the rest of us on the show were as aware as he is. Future broadcaster, Jordan Martinuk. Good guy. Yes, yeah. So I was, I wanted to show back out of the Carolina Hurricanes. Yes, I heard. Yes, that he is Carolina's king foodie.

And good on you, Kyle, for shouting that out. Makes your job a little bit easier. Yes, yeah, really nice. Okay, so that's the scene from here in Raleigh as we get set for game number five later tonight. Let's get through to some other news items here on this Friday, Elliot. And why do we begin with a memo that went out from the league office regarding trades between now and the lead up to free agency, not just of anybody, but of pending UFAs? What's the deal here? So a couple of weeks ago, a few pods ago, we mentioned how Chicago had made Ilya McAyev available.

And they were, he's a UFA. they obviously hadn't reached any kind of agreement on an extension, although the Blackhawks were interested in bringing them back, they hadn't found a landing spot. And they made them available for trade. And one of the things that was part of that conversation was Chicago was kind of looking at it like, okay, well, if he goes out there and he doesn't,

find a match or he doesn't find what he likes, maybe he'll circle back and we'll be able to find our own common ground. Check your market value and return if you don't like what you hear out there. And so the league sent a memo out basically saying that is not allowed. And the reason they're saying that is not allowed is Kyle. A few years ago, there used to be an interview period before July 1st. It was basically July 25th to the 1st, and you could talk to any UFA. However, you could not sign them until the free agency period started, but you were allowed to talk to them, and you were allowed to gauge their interest in you and your interest in them. And eventually that went away. And the least,

The Higgs point is that's gone. You can't do that. Now, I know what you're going to ask me. You're going to ask me, what about the Mitch Marner trade? Because they traded him last year. Basically, the way it works, Kyle, is you're allowed to make a trade. If you want to make the deal and give someone else a player's negotiating rights, you can go out and you can do that.

But you can't allow a player to talk to other teams. Permission for a UFA to talk to other teams is a no-no. And what they did is part of this is remind everybody about tampering fines. And the fine for tampering can be up to $5 million and people can be suspended. and you could use draft picks. That's what they did here. So they said, if you want to trade someone to some other team

and get something for them, no problem. But you can't just allow people the right to talk to someone under penalty of ludicrous punishment. Okay. So in the case of Mikhail, like was Chicago basically just opening the door

and saying if anyone wants to talk to this guy to kind of get a sense of where he thinks he wants that number to be, have at her. Is that where you're, or the league is wary of potentially happening? The league doesn't want that. The League doesn't want that. I get that. The Blackhawks sent out of notes saying his rights are available for trade. and but one of the things that happened and some reporting and the follow-up to that, including my own, was that Chicago was comfortable with Mikhailov finding out his market value

because if it wasn't what he thought it would be, they were okay with him coming back and saying, let's talk again because what you're offering or what I turned down from you, I wasn't getting better out there. The league's like, no, that's not allowed. If you want to straight up trade his rights to another team for a pick, you do that. You can't just give them permission to talk to everybody.

Now, I haven't seen this memo, but I'll tell you one other thing that was interesting about it, I heard, Kyle, is that it was hinted in that memo that the league would like to bring back that interview period, but the players association is against it. Hmm. Do you think it just becomes, in some cases, it takes on too much of a life of its own,

that it's more of a headache for players than an advantage? I think they feel that there was some level of collusion going on out there. Ah. I think we all feel that there's tampering here anyway. Right, right. Interview period or no interview period. There always seems to be a whole wave of signings at 12-0-1. Well, remember last year they didn't do it because they knew the NHL was, they made us wait.

The first one that happened last year, I think was Christian Dvorak. It was, I think, one year, five million. It was 45 minutes after the period opened up. And we're all sitting there going, we're a 10-1. tapping our fingers and we know they're out there, but nobody wanted to go first. Just grinding, grinding to get that. Yes, nobody wanted to go first because they didn't want the NHL going through their luggage,

like a baggage handler and security. So they were wary last year. They were definitely wary. But it was interesting. I heard that the league kind of seems to want to bring it back. I thought that was pretty fascinating. It's like it's a, it's the same song and dance,

but a different song choice every year around this time, eh? Yeah. It's like always the same root of the problem that the league's trying to crack down on and everyone's like, okay, well, better be careful here. You could tell these teams were legitimate

and the agents were legitimately scared of it. Really, eh? Okay. Oh, yeah. They got their attention a little bit. I suppose when you were mine a fine of $5 million. Yes. Well, I've got, I know you've got a lot of

loose change around the Bacosca's house. Yeah. Well, I didn't know. We went for dessert. That's right. Used it all up on Thursday night. Okay. Interesting.

Interesting. So make your trades. Don't dangle. Draft combine. Next week in Buffalo. We were talking to somebody actually in Montreal after one of the games this series. and their line was, yes, that week is, of course, about the draft eligible players and meeting with the teams, doing the fitness testing and all that,

but there's a lot of business that gets done at that week, too, about trades and what have you, moving forward. So what do we anticipate going into Combine Week next week? So there's been a lot of rumors, and that's perfectly normal for this time of year. I just think we're going to know over the combine start to get a better idea of what's real and what isn't. So some teams are at the world championships and they've talked there,

but everybody will be at the combine, and they'll talk there. This will separate the real stuff from the BS. I think we're going to start to find out what names are real and what has nothing to it. That'll be over the next week. Let me do a lap, see what's real. I like it.

I'm really, like some of those, well, Florida in particular, what do they do with that ninth overall pick? That's a real, it's got my attention. That's one. but I'm talking more players. Like you're hearing a lot of names out there. The trade boards are starting to coming out. Nick did one.

I think we start to determine what moves actually have something to them. Okay. Mani Mel Hulcher and the Vancouver Canucks says we record this here late Thursday night. Nothing has been announced or official yet, but all week it felt the momentum was heading in that direction. So why no announcement yet? What's your read on things there? I'm not as concerned about that situation as others are.

Nature abhors a vacuum, particularly in Vancouver. Dom needs information. He needs to know that something is happening or else he starts crazy rumors to the contrary. I know this is all your fault, Dom. I still am not panicked about anything going on with Malhotra. One of the things I think that's going on in Vancouver is they have a lot happening. They have some positions to fill, some business to do,

and I think that has affected some of these decisions, not in terms of them happening, but the timelines of it. So I'm not concerned about the Malhotra situation as it stands right now. I still think as we sit here on Thursday night recording this pod, I still think that things are moving in the proper direction. Okay. How about Jay Woodcroft and the Toronto Maple League? So I don't know, like, I'm really careful at this time of year.

We're working on a series. I don't see everything that gets reported. And I don't like, I really don't like kicking at other people's reporting because I don't see everything. There's a lot flying around and I'm not infallible. I get things wrong too. I understand there were some reports this week that he's going to interview in Toronto. I don't believe that's the case.

I do not believe Toronto was asked permission to talk to him, and I think it's quite possible Toronto doesn't ask to talk to him. He's interviewed in L.A., and I think he's got to be a legit contender there. I think D.J. Smith, the incumbent, is too, but I've heard, for whatever reason, he will not be interviewing in Toronto. David Carl, one thing I'm trying to figure out is, is he going on any visits?

I think it's hard to see him taking any of these jobs without going on any visits. From what I can tell right now, he has no visits to any of these teams scheduled. So that's the second thing. Edmonton, we'll talk about Cassie a minute. I think they're simply waiting. You know, Colorado is going through their exit interviews, I think Friday.

So they'll do those and eventually Sackick and Chris McFarlane will meet with the media and we'll get a better handle on what's going on there. A couple of other situations, I think some HL jobs. are getting close to being filled. A number of people thought that Jay McKee would end up in Belleville since he's got the long history with Steve Steyos and they have an interim person there. I now understand Jay McKee is going to Hamilton with the Islanders American Hockey League team.

And I also heard Hartford has an opening and Jay Leach, the assistant in Boston, I'm told, has an excellent shot at that job. And the other one I heard, one of the players when he played, who I really like talking to, and I like talking to him as a coach when I see him, because I think he's really good at explaining the game, is Vinny Prossball, really good NHL player. He was an American hockey league assistant this year in Rochester with, the Buffalo Sabres, there's talk out there. He could be joining Jim Montgomery on the bench in St. Louis.

They have some openings, and I think he's a contender for one of those jobs. I've always liked talking hockey with him. He's a really sharp guy, really sharp guy. And you know what? We should talk about McFarlane a bit. I'm sure whenever he meets with the media, he'll get asked about his future. I've been told now he has one more year under contract in Colorado. I can't even see Colorado considering this unless it's like a real serious promotion slash raise.

And even then, I'm not sure that they will, but I don't even think they'll look at it unless it's that. we'll see how that plays out. All right, that'll take us to the final thought, presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers. So the Bruce Cassidy situation, Elliot. So Bruce went on with the fellows over at Spitten Chicklets, gave a great interview. And, you know, I think back to when Kelly McCriman spoke

at the start of the Western Conference final and he addressed it off the top and said how, you know, they remained focused on the Stanley Cup playoffs and pursuit of the Cup and that, you know, Bruce understands. the situation. So, I mean, Bruce may very well understand the situation. Doesn't mean he has to be happy about it or agree with it.

And you can certainly get the sense, like, this is just a guy in the interview who wants to coach. He wants to get back to work and feels he's being kept from doing so. Yeah, I thought, I said good on him for getting out there and defending himself. A lot of people wouldn't do that. They would stay pretty quiet. But he advocated for himself, which I'm impressed with. One of my friends compared it to George Costanza trying to get fired from the Yankees,

where he's driving the World Series trophy in the car behind him. He said that that's the next thing he would try if he was Bruce Cassidy. He would tie the Stanley Cup to the back of his car and drive it around the Vegas parking lot. I was kind of laughing at that when I thought it was good. No, you know, I'm impressed that he advocated for himself. I think a lot of people in the media understand how he feels. You know, again, contract law is Vegas is right. But it's interesting.

I had a conversation with someone who's at this series. And he said to me, I think you're wrong. I think it's within Vegas is right. and I just said I don't think there are a lot of people in the NHL including people who've turned down

requests in the past that would be okay if somebody blocked them from getting the kind of deal that Cassidy could get here I don't blame him for being mad and you know I just

Just they're well within their rights. I just don't like it. I also didn't realize, Elliot, the way and Cassie was good on him for explaining, because the whole idea of, well, can he just resign? Can you just terminate the contract and start fresh? I didn't realize there was, you know, a non-compete element if he were to do that. So that doesn't even free him up. That's what we talked about.

Like, as I mentioned on the pot, I'd ask the league about that if he could do that. and he was and the league felt no the answer was no and that Vegas was well within their rights. I mean, I don't need to do this all the time. I've talked about my hatred for non-competes because while I don't think this would happen to Bruce Cassidy because I think he's too good at what he does, I've seen several careers in our business ruined by people who had or let go. paid off, but not allowed to go somewhere else. And they never got their career started again because it was out of sight, out of mind. I don't like that.

Yes. Yeah. And so I guess right, like one thing is when you had said that a couple of pods ago, I just thought it was the league saying, no, I didn't realize there was actual language kind of within a coach's contract that say, if you terminate,

there is still a non-compete component to it. So anyway. I will say this. not every coach's contract is the same. You know, that's one of the challenges here is that anybody can go online and look at the CBA and see what's called the SPC, the standard player contract. You can go online and look at it and see what every NHL's player's contract looks like. You know, there's difference in salary, there's difference in term, there's difference in

trade protection, but every contract at its base is the same. coaches contracts or management contracts there can be differences and we don't get to see those and therefore it makes it a little trickier but that's that's one of the challenges here is you know I'll tell you I had a coach say to me last week when he signed his contract with the team he was told he had to sign NDA They didn't want anybody to know what his contract terms were. Really? Yes.

So sometimes we forget that what's negotiated between the league and the players, the NHL and the NHLPA, is very different than what happens with the coaches and the managers. It was a little more Wild Westy. Yes. It sure is. All right. Well, we'll see what the next chapter of the Cassidy Vegas.

saga brings us next week or later this week. That was the final thought presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers. We'll take our first break. When we come back, the thought line is back. That's next on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. All right, brand spank, a new edition of the thought line coming your way in just a moment. But first, Elliot, time for you to shout out your shoutouts. What do you got?

First of all, Kyle, I wanted to shout out the ushers and security. people around Dave and Mine's location, section 117 for the Canadian's last two home games. We don't really need a security team. Nobody wants to talk to us, but it was a very tight space, and they had to maneuver us around. Sabrina, Alexander, and Adele. Adele was very concerned about my hair in game three. She's like, you can't go on air like that. And I said, you clearly don't watch me, do you?

And so, but I figured game four, I worked a little harder to try to get rid of that cowlick near my part. And the funniest thing was, I show up and I see her. I said, look, I worked on it to make it better. And she looks at me and she goes, it looks the exact same. So evidently, oh my gosh. Evidently, I did not improve things. Okay. A gentleman named Doug from Rocky Mountain Horse, the home of Brad Stewart, saw his first Habs playoff game on Thursday night.

Unfortunately, didn't go better for him, but Rocky Mountain Horses in Alberta, that's a hike. There was a couple Frankie and Jane, and Jane, I'm shouting her out, she goes, I have to listen to the pod because my fiancé makes me do it. And I was like, that is the exact kind of listener I love, one that cannot change the channel, even if they wanted to. And Frankie, her fiance, he looked at David and said, hi to the anonymous caller. I always love it when people do that. Oh, I hope that never dies. It's fantastic. I also wanted to shout out Taman Sadiq.

He's an employee for the Canadians, gave me a little bit of help during the game that I needed. appreciate it to man. Then after the game on Wednesday, met some young men who played the St. Andrews College in just north of Toronto. They do a tournament every year that's a pretty big event. And last year, David Amber gave the opening speech. This year, I did the opening speech. Like, honestly, they told me there was no comparison. Mine was so much better than Dave's. They said it was ridiculous. But there were three young. man who played in that tournament this year, who came up and said hello. Ben Lombardi, who will be playing next year for the Barry Colts,

Mason St. Louis, who will be going to the trainee camp for Sherbrook in the Quebec Major Junior League, and Owen Gibbons, who's actually going to Lafayette to play lacrosse. Lafayette, a great academic school, and he's furthering his athletic career in lacrosse. Good luck to all three gentlemen in the next phase of their lives. and Kyle, when we arrived in Raleigh on Thursday, I met a nice young family, a father and his two boys. The father, his name is Jonathan. The elder boy, his name is Nolan.

There was a second son, a bit younger. Their last name is Harbor. Guess what the boy's first name was. Hold on. Last name was Harbor? Yes. Don't tell me it's Cole. You nailed it.

Wow. They name their son, Cole Harbor. And they're actually from, Jonathan was born in Toronto, and the two boys were born in London, Ontario. But the second boy's name was Cole Harbor. Really nice kid, great name, nice family. They were down in Raleigh. So those are my shoutouts. You?

So not so much a shoutout. more so a callout. Dom, I need your opinion on something here. Okay. So we land in Raleigh this afternoon, Thursday afternoon. I grab the rental car, Dave and Elliot hop in. We go to the hotel, we get checked in. Dave and Elliot have to do a hit for our news show.

I wanted to make a run to grab a couple things for the hotel room. There's a Whole Foods, a short drive away. Okay. So I text them. Whole Foods run. Any requests? Dave replies, Chocolate milk, please.

Thanks. Elliot replies, Something snacky, please. Which really narrows it down. Because it's one thing that I'm offering to get something for these guys, which I'm happy to do. But now he's making me make decisions. So I could have pushed back.

I swallowed my pride. And I respond, salty or sweet? Elliot, with a real knee slapper, comes back with, that's a personal question. Then he says, sweet please, maybe some chips. Let me read that again. Sweet please, maybe some chips.

What? Yeah, that was, you imagine my reaction, Tom. You two are the two dumbest human beings alive. Oh, my God. Are you kidding me? We have a monitor on this particular pot, Christian, who will be producing one of the episodes that Dom can't be here to do.

Christian, do you please save my faith in humanity by understanding what I was saying there? Elliot, I'm sorry. I got aside with Kyle and Dom here. Sweets and chips? Not exactly a match. So that's what, thank you, Christian. I write back, that sentence totally contradicts itself, and then I go, I regret saying anything.

And he writes back, something sweet and some chips. Geez, like I'm the problem. I figured that would have been obvious that that's what I was referring to. No. No. Because I took it as... None of you are any good at logical reasoning. None of you.

None of you could be lawyers. which is probably a good thing. None of you can do, how do you guys get out of bed every day and function? It's obvious what I'm talking about here. All I was trying to do, just trying to do something nice for my colleagues, been on the road a long time,

and Elliot manages to turn something as simple as that into what I just laid out. I love that you tried to make Kyle decide. He's like, I don't know, some snack, I don't know. Yeah. I just have to say that if I was, on the receiving end of this, if somebody said something sweet, I would get them something sweet. You're not standing there going, I don't know, is he going to like this?

No, no, because I think if you don't name anything, like I would just say this. Like if you pick something for me based on that and I didn't like it, I believe I have given up the right to complain because I didn't tell you anything specific. So let's just say you brought me back maybe a kind of chips I don't really like. I don't really like ketchup chips. If you had brought me back ketchup chips, I wouldn't complain because I didn't specify no ketchup. And you know why? Because I'm a normal person.

Well, again, you're just creating another layer of discontent unnecessarily. Like the response could have been chips, please, anything but ketchup. All right, I don't know not to get ketchup. Instead of wasting money, buying a bag that you don't like that you probably don't even eat anyways, even though you're not complaining. Also, like the one kind of chip that's sweet is probably ketchup. Yeah, but it was obvious. I was talking about sweet and chips. No, that was not obvious.

I guarantee you this, everybody here is going to understand exactly what I was doing. It's just going to be the three of you who don't get it. Oh, I can't wait. Can't wait for the reaction. And Dom, you have to find another producer for the one you're missing because Christian obviously is not that bright. Oh, my gosh. Christian, you can hang out here anytime. I wish this podcast was more inviting.

Unfortunately, I would be lying if I said as much. Well, I'm glad I had to air that out because it was bothering. me for the last hour and a half. Oh, wow. Okay. Sorry about that, bud. I do appreciate you trying to do something nice. Yeah.

Here's my second question. Did you actually get me anything? Yes, I did. I'll bring it to your room after we're done here. Okay, good. I'm not really excited to see this. Okay, excellent. You don't know.

You have to tell us what you got them. Don't leave all the listeners in suspense. All right, that's fair. There we go. I got kettle brand salt and vinegar chips. Excellent. Excellent choice. And even later, Dom, I said, are you a salt and vinegar guy?

And he didn't even have the decency to respond. You know what? Honestly, I'm sorry. I didn't, I completely miss that. And then I went with, I've never tried these before. They are called true to fruit, farm fresh berry candies. I'll try it. Huh?

I'll try it. That's sweet. And if I don't like it, I'm not going to complain because. I left it in your hands. I'm glad we've established that. No complaining beyond this point. All right. Let's get to the real thought line here.

Daniel from Atlanta, and he was not the only one, I guess, to inquire about this, according to Griffin Porter. Okay. Hello, Kyle, Dom, and Stankyleg. On Monday night, the Canadian's goal in game number three

to break a two-two tie midway through the third was taken off the board due to a Cole Cawfield offside entry. Rod Brinamore immediately challenged, won the challenge. I have no qualms with the offside call, but then I noticed the following face-off was taken in the Canadian's defensive zone. Why was the puck drop there and not at the off-side dot? There is no chance this was an intentional off-side.

Thanks from Atlanta, born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, go Canadians, beat the canes. Wow. Kyle, when you first started reading that, I thought people were going to ask about the amount of time it took from the actual borderline play to the goal because some people were complaining about that, saying it's too long.

And I've said this before. At the beginning, when this process all came in, there were some people who said there should be a limit to the amount of time, the D should have to clear the zone. And after a certain amount of time, if you can't do it, it's your problem. But Gary Bettman and Bill Dealey were like, nope, if it's offside, it's offside. And that won the day. So, Daniel, the reason, and I know Kyle has looked this up, but the reason that, and he'll tell me if I'm wrong, that the face off was in the Montreal zone, was the pass that initially started the whole thing came from the Montreal zone.

So if you go outside that way, the face off goes all the way down there. Yeah, simple as that. Thank you, Daniel, for submitting that one in. Yes, and as I said, it wasn't the only one, so I wanted to address that one who asked about it. Okay, Ryan, the lone penguin in Victoria. Dear esteemed West Coast brethren and fellow raccoon incident survivor, Elliot, as a penguins fan of 35 years, it's been hard to even know what to root for in terms of this aging core, with Hvgeny Malkin signing a one-year deal with,

performance bonuses for games played and team playoff results. I have a question about how those work if he's traded. Do the playoff incentives apply to the results of the new team, meaning Malkin would also have a monetary incentive to waive his no trade to go to a playoff team should the Penguins not be that next year? Also, if he meets his first games played base bonus while still with the Penguins before being traded, does that apply to the Penn's cap? or are bonuses all applied at the end of the season,

putting it on the other team's salary cap? Appreciate the thoughtful insight you three provide, especially as someone who's been surrounded by beady-eyed, ring-tailed raccoons while fumbling for their keys in the pitch black. Keep up the good work and stay vigilant. Thank you, Ryan. As a matter of fact, there was a DM I got this week from someone. I can't remember who it was, but they said they were making fun of me

for all my raccoon suffering, and this week, their abode got way laid by raccoons. So he said he will no longer poke at me through a glass house. I could mock you, but I understand your pain. Ryan, it's simple. The bonus is paid, and it's on the cap of the team where it occurs. So if in the off chance that Malkin was to accept a trade, Let's just say he makes, he reaches his games played bonuses with Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh would pay those, but making the playoffs and any wins in the playoffs would go on the cap of the team that acquired him. Where you earn them is where they count. Excellent. All right. One more here. For each comes courtesy of Chris and Sudbury, Dear 32 crew, Never thought about it before, but after Freddie Anderson shut out the Canadians in game four, it dawned on me that he has shutouts for three different teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Are there any goaltenders who have four or possibly even more? That's a great question. Now, are we talking? Are we talking ancient history? So all I will say is that there is only one goal. in history that has more than Anderson's three. Anderson is one of nine goalies to have shoutouts with three different teams in the playoffs. Only one goalie in history has more. And I will say this goalie, do want a little guidance on error?

Not yet, because I'll tell you which names are coming to mind, okay? Jaac, Jacques Plont, Terry Sawchuk, Okay. The only other guy I can think of off the top of my head who's more recent is Curtis Joseph. Wow.

That's the one. It's Curtis Joseph? It's Cujo. I thought for sure it was Sawchuk or Plont. No. I don't even think they have three under their name. Well, I would have figured that, I mean, Sawchuk definitely for Detroit

and Plant for Montreal. And I would have thought, you know, Plant was in. St. Louis when they were good in the late 60s. So Joseph is the answer? Yes. Four teams. So that would be St. Louis, Edmonton, Toronto, and Calgary?

No, Detroit. He did have one in Detroit? Yeah. Wow. It would have been 04, I believe. No, because remember, oh, yeah. 03, they got swept by Anna. Yeah, that's right.

You're right. Excuse me, that's right. That's why I didn't initially pick Detroit. I forgot about the next year. That's right. Yeah. Then lost to Calgary in the second round in 2004. So, yeah, Anderson has mentioned, has done it with three teams, joining the likes of Ed Belfour.

Yeah. Lauren Shabbat. Okay. Grant Fierre. Yeah. John Ross Roach. Okay. Long time ago.

Yeah. Mike Smith. Did Cam Talbot do it too? Did he ever do it? Yes, he did. He did, eh? Because I was thinking about, I know he played for a ton of teams

and that's interesting. Cam Talbot did it. That's interesting. Yep. Mike Vernon. Oh, yeah. I should have guessed him. And John Van Beasbrook.

Hmm. So that's the list. Cujo. Nicely done. Because initially I'm like, good guesses, but wrong era. And then you nailed it.

Fun stuff. All right. We'll wrap it up there. Another edition of the thought line in the books. You can submit your questions, concerns, ideas, thoughts to the thought line at 32thoughts at 32thoughts at 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. If you want to email us or you can leave a voicemail at 1833-3-1-321-32. We'll take one final break.

Music to tee up this edition of 32 thoughts. That's on the other side. Okay, that's going to about do it for this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in and not much more else to say. One final reminder, the first elimination game of the Eastern Conference final goes later tonight from here where Elliot and I are in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hockey Central pregame show gets underway at 7.30 Eastern 4.30 Pacific Time on Sportsnet. Buck drop for game five between the hurricanes and the Canadians a little after 8 Eastern on Sportsnet and CBC. Seed. Taking us out today, a track from Mina, who is a Canadian singer-songwriter with a sunlit,

soulful sound that explores love, connection, and our ties to the natural world. Her 2023 debut EP, Slow Motion, produced by Gus Van Gogh, her national radio play with standout tracks like hiccup and pressure. Described by Riflandia magazine as the sound of sunlight cutting through the foliage, Mina blends warmth, intimacy, and emotional depth. Her debut full-length album, Where the Light Goes, dropped in March of this year and was produced by Howard Redicop, Eric Nielsen, and Van Gogh. Archetypal Life is an unapologetic wake-up, a song for the consequences we've ignored. It mourns the end of a world built on endless consumption and calls out the greed that drove it over the edge.

Mina will be performing later this summer in Coldstream, BC at the end of August, and has dates throughout BC and Alberta in September as well. This track along with others that we have featured this season on 32 Thoughts the podcast can be seen on Spotify in the 32 Thoughts the music playlist. Here is Mina, an archetypal life on 32 Thoughts, the podcast.